Executive Functioning Skills List- How to Identify Kids that Struggle
Inside: Easily identify areas of executive functioning your students may be struggling with by using this simple printable executive functioning skills list.
The classroom door slams as the student rushes into the room four seconds after the bell rang, disrupting the entire classroom full of students that just settled in.
You're waiting as another long minute passes as the student digs through their desk, searching for the assignment they insist they completed. The rest of the class shuffles restlessly.
“What do I do now?” the question repeated for the sixth time since you let students begin working on their final project.
So many moments that take away from instruction.
These are all students who could be struggling with executive functioning.
While this is great to know, it is hard to know what to do next until you learn about what executive functioning is and how it affects students.
If this is your first time exploring executive functioning, yous should take a moment and check out the article: Improving Executive Functioning- What You Need To Know To Ensure Student Success to learn all about executive functioning, what it is, and how it affects students.
If you're looking for a quick “what skills are affected by executive functioning,” you're in the right place!
Hierarchical- Fun to Say, Important to Know
Executive functioning includes all of the skills that allow us to get ourselves together to do what we need to do. This includes memory, organization, time management, and attention.
Let’s start with attention first, as so many skills rely on first attending to what is going on around you.
Attention is hierarchical. I love this word. If you have a moment, look up how it is pronounced.
Anyway, back on topic. Hierarchical is a big word to say that the skills that makeup attention are developed in order. You cannot attain the next level without mastering the level before it.
Some skills included in attention are focus, visual perception, sustained attention, freedom from distractibility, and perception.
How Memory Plays a Role
Memory includes the ability to retain information a student takes in. The first step of memory is attention. You must first be able to observe and pay attention to something to remember it.
Further, memory involves the ability to process information, encode it, store it, and recall it later.
Where Things Are
Organization involves a great many skills, including memory, attention, and physical processing.
Most tasks that we complete in a day are planned out and thought through in a different environment than they occur in.
Think, for example, about a student who needs to run to their locker to get a book. The brain must plan out:
how to get out of a desk
walk to the door
turn a door handle
open a door
walk down the hall
ignore the many distractions of the hallway
remember a locker combination
use the code to unlock the locker
open the locker
remember where the book is
etc...
This is a long process and requires a lot of organization of information.
This same process goes into all forms of organization, from organizing our body in space to organizing where materials are stored in our desks.
Finding the Time
The last area of executive functioning we're going to talk about is time management. After reading through these lists, I guess you have already figured out time management depends on the skills above.
Imagine trying to stay on time for things if you do not remember what you need to do or cannot organize what you're doing next or where your materials required are.
For students who struggle with executive functioning, everyday school tasks that most students complete quickly are overwhelming.
These students are spending time trying to be functional students instead of learning classroom content.
Which of My Students Might be Struggling?
In the chaos of everyday classroom activities, it can be easy to mistake executive functioning deficits as behavioral issues.
Students who never seem to have their work done may be viewed as “lazy” or “irresponsible.”
The student who is late to class may be described as “disrespectful” or “defiant.”
However, often these are the students who are struggling with underlying executive functioning issues.
Making a List- Checking it Twice
The list below includes some tasks and skills that fall under each category of executive functioning.
If you have a student who struggles with multiple skills under one category, it may be the student has a broader executive functioning deficit.
Executive functioning skills list
Organization
Putting school work into folders
Color coding materials
Highlighting
Cleaning a desk
Cleaning a backpack
Cleaning a locker
Choosing clothes appropriate for the day’s weather
Walking the most direct route to the pencil sharpener, door, etc
Breaking down assignments into steps
Deciding which assignment to do first
Prioritizing tasks
Bringing school notes home and papers back to school
Time Management
Getting to class on time
Having assignments completed
Turning work in on time
Getting materials out in a timely fashion
Packing up materials in time to leave class
Completing multi-step projects
Finishing lunch before lunchtime is over
Using between class times for drinks or bathroom breaks
Breaking down assignments and identifying how long each part will take
Using work time effectively
Starting tasks or conversations when there is a reasonable amount of time to complete them.
Making it to the bus or after-school pickup on time
Memory
Completing Assignments
Bringing required materials to class
Bringing back permission slips and other paperwork
Taking time to study for tests
Answering questions when called on
Knowing classroom rules/expectations
Using most efficient route to locker and classes
Remembering locker combination
Remembering computer login information
Using a planner
Knowing where to locate classroom materials
Remembering classmate’s names
Attention
Completing Assignments
Answering questions when called on
Appearing focused
Keeping Still/ Quiet body
Watching a video
Participating in online activities
Reading for an extended period of time
Remaining in assigned location
Remembering classroom materials
Following classroom routines
Remaining quiet when directions are being given
Using technology for the intended purpose
This list does not include every task that falls under each category. You can think of additional skills in your classroom that would fall under each category. If you are curious which skills a student should be able to master by specific grade levels, check out this article about Executive Function Skills by Age.
To learn more about executive functioning and ways you can support students with deficits in each of these areas, check out this article on Improving Executive Functioning.
Download Your Free Printable
To help you master executive functioning, I made a worksheet you can fill out as you review your classroom procedures.
The Executive Functioning Inventory gives you one simple checklist to help you identify areas to improve supports for executive functioning. Simply download the worksheet, print a few copies, and have them ready the next time you are planning a lesson.
Follow these steps to make sure your next lesson has the supports in place to support your students:
Download the worksheet. You will get the free printable and will join my mailing list full of timely executive function tips and printables. Just click HERE.
Print a few copies. Leave them sitting on your desk, in your classroom, any place you stop to reflect.
When you are planning a lesson or reflecting on a previous period, pick up the Executive Functioning Inventory. Pick up a fun pen and fill out the worksheet to identify areas that can be adjusted, adapted, or supported.
Teach. With confidence, knowing you are supporting all students.
